Hanzal, Reinprecht power Coyotes past Maple Leafs

Dec 5, 2008 - 6:09 AM

GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Martin Hanzal recorded his first
career hat trick and Steven Reinprecht scored twice in the third
period as the Phoenix Coyotes posted a 6-3 triumph over the
Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

After notching three goals in his previous 24 games and just
eight in his rookie campaign in 2007-08, Hanzal scored twice in
the first period and added a shorthanded tally just 27 seconds
into the middle session to complete the hat trick.

"It is amazing because I never scored two goals, and now I have
a hat trick," Hanzal said. "I really enjoyed this game. I just
picked up the rebound and got lucky on the first two goals, and
yes, the third, too."

What made the feat all the more special was the fact Hanzal
accomplished it in front of his parents.

"The timing was perfect," he said. "They are leaving tomorrow
and have been here for a couple of weeks, so I am glad they saw
it. It was for them."

Todd Fedoruk also tallied and defensemen Ed Jovanovski and Derek
Morris notched two assists apiece as Phoenix improved to 4-1-0
in its last five games.

After Mikael Tellqvist allowed three goals on nine shots over
two periods, Ilya Bryzgalov started the third and stopped all
nine shots he faced.

"I felt that Telly got us to that point, and Bryzgalov has
worked hard the last three days and we needed a pressure-cooker
out of him in the third and he made some big saves," Phoenix
coach Wayne Gretzky said. "It was a gut feel to make the
change, and I did it more to push the team than to take Telly
out."

Alexei Ponikarovsky scored twice, Jason Blake had a goal and two
assists and Dominic Moore set up a pair of tallies for Toronto,
which has dropped two in a row and surrendered 33 goals in its
last nine contests.

"That is a lot of goals against, obviously," said Maple Leafs
goaltender Vesa Toskala, who made 20 saves. "I couldn't help
the team much today."

"We didn't look like we had anything in the tank in the third
period," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. "They got us on our
heels and we never go it going. We just need everybody with a
better effort. Tried to rest up, tried to have better energy
for the game - it just didn't work."

With the game tied at 3-3 just over five minutes into the third
period, Morris unleashed a shot from the right point that
deflected off the stick of Reinprecht and past a screened
Toskala.

Reinprecht doubled the advantage just over nine minutes later,
and Fedoruk tallied with 3:52 to cap the scoring.

"We wanted to play with some energy in the third, get some pucks
on the net, and when you do that, good things happen,"
Reinprecht said. "We got some big point shots and some
rebounds, and that is how you are going to be successful."

Hanzal opened the scoring 2:07 into the contest and gave the
Coyotes a 2-1 lead nearly 10 minutes later, netting both goals
after gathering rebounds.

The 21-year-old Czech completed the hat trick early in the
second period, settling a bouncing puck on the doorstep before
tucking it past Toskala. The tally gave Phoenix a 3-2 lead.

"The guys came up large when they had to, and when the game was
on the line, Marty was excellent," Gretzky said.